Netherlands agricultural environmental policy: Lessons to be learned

JOHAN DE LEEUW;Animal Production and Health Division

Netherlands agricultural environmental policy: Lessons to be learned

Year of publication 1998

Author JOHAN DE LEEUW;Animal Production and Health Division

Product type Book (stand-alone)

Edition 1

Full item page

Synopsis (short abstract) The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries is very pleased that the Conference Livestock and the Environment takes place in the Netherlands and that the International Agricultural Centre, which is part of the Ministry, has an important task in the organisation of the Conference and in the preparation of the study. Dutch agriculture is characterised by a high productivity and intensiveness. A negative result of this is an output of polluting substances. With regard to lives tock, this has the form of a mineral surplus which results in water and groundwater pollution. On the other hand, livestock production also has positive environmental effects. It contributes to the closure of mineral cycles and it is a way to add value to by-products of agribusiness. In addition, it is a way to make good use of marshy areas, of which we have a lot in the Netherlands. The first policy effort to control the mineral surplus in Dutch livestock production is more than ten y ears old. We started to curb the rapid growth of manure production. Now, the policy aim is to arrive at a sustainable situation in the year 2010 in which mineral output in agriculture is geared to the carrying capacity of the environment. We have had to conclude that it is far from easy to control a mineral surplus caused by livestock production once it exists, in particular in areas in which intensive livestock production is subject to rapid growth. Maybe the Dutch experience can provide some c lues for the development of general policy recommendations. It is for this reason that I entitled my speech ‘Lessons To Be Learned’ First, I will outline the development of environmental policy in the Netherlands. Then, I will look at the environmental problems caused by livestock production and the policies developed to abate it, and to conclude, I will sum up the lessons that can be learned from the Dutch situation.

Language English

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“Had we known beforehand which ecological risks were involved with agriculture, we probably would never have started it”, Professor Jan de Veer, former Director of the Agricultural Economic Institute [Landbouw Economisch Instituut] used to sigh occasionally. Indeed, agriculture involves large environmental risks, but at the same time we know, of course, that agriculture - as a user of solar energy - is one of the most sustainable economic activities. This follows logically from the well-known ba sic laws of thermodynamics. In addition, I would like to bring up a basic law in economics, which says that economy is concerned with reducing dissatisfaction and reducing non-sustainability. I mention ‘reducing’ to emphasise the direction and the speed of the change. We will have to keep this simple law in mind when dealing with the environment. When applying economic laws to the environment, we often hear ‘the polluter pays’. I think that many politicians particularly should try to u nderstand better the deeper meaning of this statement: the polluter charges or must charge his costs to the consumer, and in the end it is the consumer who pays (extra) for whatever it is that causes the pollution. In this manner, the market mechanism influences the consumer's behaviour of choosing and spending. The problem the (Dutch) farmer is facing is that for a number of reasons he is not able to charge his environmental cost to the consumer. First of all, the agricultural market has many small suppliers of which none are able to impose a price on the consumer - not even locally. It is quite simple for the demanders of food (including industry and store chains) to bring in food from other regions. This aspect is reinforced by the fact that the agricultural market is a surplus market. A second and maybe just as important an issue is that the consumer is hardly or not prepared to pay extra for a more ecologically sound food product. In particular the subtle distinctio n - more ecologically sound - appears not to appeal to them. In practice, only the purely alternative or ecological agriculture successfully insists on higher prices. Until today this is only a very small market sector: even in a ‘food critical’ market such as in Germany the proportion of the biologically grown products was only two percent in 1994. As we said, an intermediate form - a less-sprayed potato, a more extensively bred cow - does not succeed in obtaining a higher market price. The con sumer simply is not interested. In addition, agricultural products are basic products between which the typical consumer has hardly or not been taught to distinguish, which makes it practically impossible for the supplier to introduce a noticeable distinction. An energy-saving dish-washer or a detergent with less phosphates can be advertised and sold as such, and their higher prices will be taken for granted. For a more environmentally sound agricultural product this cannot be claimed or or ganised quite as easily. The market for agricultural products has no premiums. There are only discounts. In short, the above means that for agricultural entrepreneurs, for farmers and market gardeners, ‘the environment’ only manifests itself in additional costs and never in additional proceeds. This has two important consequences, which I wish to discuss here: 1) environmental policy meets with wide resistance among farmers and market gardeners, and 2) is it not the market but the governmen t which will have to show the way to a change for the better.
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